Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,900 shares, a growth of 842.1% from the December 31st total of 1,900 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 12,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Guild by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in Guild during the third quarter valued at $79,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Guild by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 269,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,668 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Guild by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 653,957 shares of the company's stock worth $10,875,000 after purchasing an additional 69,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Guild by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.52% of the company's stock.

Guild Price Performance

NYSE:GHLD traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.64. 5,663 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,279. The company has a market cap of $782.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.00. Guild has a 1 year low of $11.21 and a 1 year high of $18.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GHLD. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Guild in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Guild from $13.00 to $11.50 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Guild from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on Guild from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.67.

About Guild

Guild Holdings Company originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans in the United States. It operates in two segments, Origination and Servicing. The company offers residential mortgages through retail and correspondent channels. Guild Holdings Company was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.